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New Reasons For Leopard Trophy Seizures By USFWS

(posted October 26, 2010)

If you have a leopard trophy on its way to the United States, contact your importer immediately to ensure your trophy will not be seized by the US Fish & Wildlife Service. According to John J. Jackson, III, of Conservation Force, a number of leopard trophies have already been seized by USFWS agents for a new reason having to do with the year the leopard was taken versus the year it was exported.

As Jackson reports in this month's issue of Conservation Force, leopard tags and export permits that cite the quota for the year of the export rather than the year of the hunt are now being treated as invalid by USFWS inspectors. Those trophies are subject to forfeiture under the regulations of the Endangered Species Act, by which USFWS enforces CITES regulations. Already trophies from Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe have been seized at ports from San Francisco to New York. Because the agency treats CITES imports with any paperwork errors as contraband, hunters lose all property rights to their trophies.

To prevent this from happening with your trophies, download the updated Trophy Problem Checklist Jackson has created. Send a copy to your operator and expediter in Africa and to your broker in the United States. Make sure each recommended step applying to your trophy has been taken. If your shipment arrives in the US with any errors on the paperwork, return it immediately. If the trophy is seized, you will most likely lose it forever.

The November issue of Conservation Force Bulletin features the full story on this development and the reason why US Fish & Wildlife has taken this route with trophies. Look for it in your e-mail inbox later this week. - Barbara Crown, Editor

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